Friday, Nov. 2
7 p.m. – Kennesaw State (20-5, 11-1) vs. Liberty (13-13, 9-3)
Sunday, Nov. 4
2 p.m. – Kennesaw State (20-5, 11-1) vs. FGCU (20-6, 11-1)
Location: Kennesaw, Ga. | Convocation Center
Match 1 – Live Stats | ESPN3
Match 2 – Live Stats | ESPN3
Match Notes
Match Preview
The Kennesaw State volleyball team opens its final home stand of the season this Friday, kicking off the first of three matches in five days against Liberty Friday at 7 p.m., followed by Senior Day this Sunday against FGCU at 2 p.m.
This weekend carries massive implications for the 2018 ASUN Conference Tournament as all four top teams in the league square off. The Owls and FGCU are currently No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the league with matching 11-1 conference records. KSU holds the tiebreaker over the Eagles having defeated FGCU in four sets earlier this year.
Before KSU and FGCU square off, the Owls welcome Liberty to town Friday evening. The Lady Flames were one of the first four teams to qualify for the conference tournament, currently sitting at 13-13 overall and 9-3 in ASUN play. After dropping three straight matches to Lipscomb, KSU and FGCU, LU has been on a tear winning their last six straight, dropping only two sets over that span.
Liberty is led by the junior duo of Casey Goodwin and Anna Gragg. Goodwin has recorded a team-high 252 kills to rank seventh in the conference while Gragg has logged 89 total blocks to rank seventh.
KSU's second match of the weekend is a battle for control of the top spot in the ASUN as the Owls take on FGCU for Senior Day. The Eagles only loss in conference play came at the hands of KSU in early October. In fact, the Eagles have only lost six total sets throughout all of league play.
As a team, FGCU leads the conference and ranks among the top-20 in the NCAA for blocks per set (2.85), total blocks (254), hitting percentage (.269) and opponent hitting percentage (.123).
FGCU has plenty of firepower with sophomore Cortney VanLiew leading the conference in total kills (354) and senior Sharonda Pickering leading the nation with a .442 hitting percentage. The Eagles also have two of the top-5 blockers in the league in Daniele Serrano (No. 1) and Pickering (No. 4) with 116 and 98 blocks, respectively.
Last Time Out
The Owls split their road trip to Florida last weekend, sweeping North Florida before having their 14-match winning streak snapped at Stetson.
KSU blew through the Ospreys to open the weekend, hitting .327 for the match to record the sweep.Â
After an early 7-7 tie in the first set at UNF, KSU pulled ahead with a 5-0 run to take a 13-8 advantage. The Owls kept UNF at bay, building their lead to as high as eight points before closing out the set, 25-17.Â
KSU jumped out to a huge 14-5 lead in the second set following a 5-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Dani Ballou. The Owls rode that lead to the final point, fending off a late surge from the Ospreys before Ballou put the nail in the coffin, 25-17.
The third set played out in a similar fashion as KSU pulled ahead 14-8. The Owls maintained a five-point advantage throughout the set before a kill from Lauren Chastang clinched the sweep, 25-20.
KSU hit a speed bump in their second match in as many days against Stetson. The Owls recorded a .169 hitting percentage during the match, their second-lowest percentage of the season.
After tying the first set at 5-5, KSU fell into a hole as Stetson rattled off the next five points to take a 10-5 lead. The Owls managed to pull within one, 12-11, but the Hatters responded to keep KSU at bay. After KSU rallied once again to make it close, 20-19, Stetson closed out the set on a 5-1 run to take the opener 25-20.
KSU pulled in front to open the second set, 10-6, but the Hatters responded with a 7-1 run to re-take the lead, 13-11. Both teams proceeded to trade points until Stetson went on another 7-1 run to earn set point, 24-18. The Owls fended off three set points, but the gap was too large to overcome as Stetson won 25-21 to take a 2-0 lead.
It was an extremely tight set in the third as KSU looked to stay alive. The two squads went point-for-point deep into the set, tied 17-17. The Hatters earned the set's first advantage with a 4-0 run, but the Owls responded with a 6-1 run of their own to lead 23-22. Stetson kept it from a fourth set, recording the next three points to earn the victory, 25-23.
Senior Showcase
This Sunday the Owls will honor its four seniors, Maddie Jones, Karla Radillo, Sydni Shelton and Liesl Engelbrecht, in the annual Senior Day match.
This is the winningest class in KSU history, having totaled 78 wins over their four-year careers with at least five matches still to play. The four Owls have helped KSU clinch an ASUN Conference Tournament berth all four years, winning the program's first tournament title in program history last season.
For their careers, Shelton and Engelbrecht will rank among the top Owls all-time in kills and blocks, respectively. Shelton currently ranks fourth in program history with 962 total kills, needing only 38 kills over her final matches to become the fourth Owl ever to reach the 1,000-kill mark. Engelbrecht became the KSU career blocks leader earlier this year, surpassing Rachel Taylor's mark of 251. She is the first Owl in program history to record over 300 career blocks with 337 total heading into this weekend.Â
Radillo and Jones have been major parts of KSU's recent success, combining for 1,040 digs over their careers. Jones currently ranks eighth at KSU with 757 career digs. She has also logged 369 kills, switching to outside hitter her junior year.
The Block Is Hot
Sophomore Quin Sutphin and senior Liesl Engelbrecht have propelled the Owls to be one of the top blocking teams in the country. Together, the two middle blockers have combined for half of KSU's total blocks on the year. Sutphin (103) and Engelbrecht (91) rank third and fifth, respectively, in the ASUN for total blocks.Â
Sutphin recently broke the all-time single-match record with 12 blocks at Lipscomb. She also became the first Owl in history to record a double-double with blocks and kills, logging 11 kills to go along with her 12 blocks against the Bison.
Sutphin's is the second player in history to hit the century mark for blocks in a single-season. She needs only 10 more blocks to match the KSU record set by Callie Churchwell in 2009 (113). Her current 1.26 blocks per set average ranks third in the conference and would break the single-season record of 1.14 set by Liesl Engelbrecht last season.
As a team, the Owls rank third in the conference (29th in the NCAA) with 232 total blocks. Six players have recorded 20 or more blocks on the year. KSU's current block total ranks second all-time in a single-season, needing only two more to tie the record of 234 set in 2009.Â
Among The Nation's Best
As a team, the Owls are ranked in the NCAA's top-25 in four different categories.
KSU ranks 12th in the country and second in the ASUN this year, holding opponents to a .153 hitting percentage. The Owls have held 18 teams below .200, including five below .100 and one under .000.
KSU broke 1,000 assists on the year at Lipscomb and are currently ranked 22nd in the NCAA with 1,228. This is the 11th straight season KSU has recorded more than 1,000 assists.
The Owls have also broken the century mark in total kills, logging 1,310 on the year. That mark is good enough for 21st in the country and second in the league.
KSU recorded eight aces over the weekend to bring its season total to 146 which leads the conference and ranks 21st in the nation. that mark is also tied for the third-most in a single-season.
Killing The Game
After being resigned to the back row against NJIT, Sophomore Lauren Chastang returned with a vengeance logging 24 kills over KSU's last two matches.
She opened the weekend with her 12th double-double of the year against UNF, recording 12 kills and 14 digs. Chastang followed that up with 12 kills and nine digs at Stetson. Â
With her four digs against NJIT earlier this year, Chastang became the fifth player in program history to record over 300 kills and 200 digs in a single-season. She is one of three players in the ASUN with at least 300 kills and 200 digs, and the only player to add over 40 blocks to her season production.
She is currently eighth on the KSU single-season record list with 312 kills.Â
A Grand Celebration
Senior Sydni Shelton is closing in on history heading into the final matches of the season. Shelton has recorded 962 kills over her career as an Owl. She needs just 38 kills over the next five matches to become just the fourth Owl in history to record over 1,000 kills in their career.Â
She is currently second on the team and ninth in the ASUN with 231 kills this season. She is averaging 2.41 kills per set and 9.24 kills per match.
Allow Me To Assist You
Junior Lexi Broadwater set a career-high with 58 assists at Lipscomb and continues to assist at a record pace this year.
The Fayetteville, Ga., native ranks ninth in the NCAA with 1,062 total assists this season. Only 11 players in the country have recorded over 1,050 assists. In the ASUN, only one other player has over 900 assists this year, North Florida's Madilyn McCarty (933) who has played in five more matches.
Broadwater is just the fifth Owl in history to reach the century mark in a single-season. Her current clip of 11.06 assists per set ranks 26th in the NCAA. That mark would also make her the first Owl in history with a single-season assists per set average above 11.
Pocket Aces
Lexi Broadwater has been stellar from the service line as well, recording 36 aces this season. She ranks second in the ASUN and 38th in the NCAA for total aces.
Broadwater needs only two more aces to break the KSU single-season record.
As a team, KSU has logged five or more aces in 15 matches with 10 or more in four matches. The Owls' 146 aces ranks tied for third on the KSU single-season record list.
Seven Owls have recorded 10 or more aces on the year.
Owls on ESPN+Â
This weekend's matches will air live on ESPN+. Fans can purchase the digital platform for $4.99 a month or $49.99 for a year's subscription that provides access to all events broadcast on the network.
Next Up
Following this weekend's matches, the Owls close out their three-match home stand against Lipscomb Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Stat Leaders
Kills: 336, Lauren Chastang
Assists: 1,062, Lexi Broadwater
Digs: 396, Karlee Groover
Blocks: 103, Quin Sutphin
Aces: 36, Lexi Broadwater​​​​​​​
Attack Percentage: .291, Sydni Shelton
